Ridgewood Investments LLC Buys 5,668 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 424.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,004 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,668 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $697,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:MRK traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $100.07. 2,479,094 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,347,462. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $253.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MRK. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.